What Is It Like to Be a Real Genuine Christian Today?

What does the Christian experience mean? It’s very easy to reduce Christian experiences in terms of bells, whistles, incense, ritual, the churches that we go to, the addresses of our churches, so on and so forth. It’s also easy to look at the things that we see, smell and taste while we are in a church service. But if you really want to be honest about what it’s like to be a Christian, you need to go straight to the source. You need to go to God’s love letter to you. I am, of course, talking about the

The Bible is clear that religion does not save you. If you look at Jesus’ statements in the book of Matthew, the book dedicated to the Jewish authorities at the time of Jesus, you would be blown away. Because if you did not know anything else about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it would seem like He was a very antireligious person and He was to a certain degree.

Religion has a tendency to rip out the substance and take so much comfort and refuge in the forms. It’s like being handed a precious gift with a gold container and taking out all the contents and just looking at and savoring and prizing the container. Do you see how ridiculous that is? Jesus is the content. Jesus is the center of our faith or it should be. But throughout the years and through tradition and through mindless repetition, people are focused on the form.

Religion has a tendency to rip out the substance and take so much comfort and refuge in the forms. It’s like being handed a precious gift with a gold container and taking out all the contents and just looking at and savoring and prizing the container. Do you see how ridiculous that is? Jesus is the content. Jesus is the center of our faith or it should be. But throughout the years and through tradition and through mindless repetition, people are focused on the form.

If they were only focused on the relationship, focused on the content and focused ultimately on what is real, then we would not reach the moment of truth. What is the moment of truth? Again, we need to look at the Bible. Jesus said that there will come a point in time where people would come to Him and say, “Didn’t we heal people in Your name? Didn’t we drive demons out in Your name?” He said to them, “I don’t know you. Get out of my sight.”

Do you see what’s at stake? What’s at stake is Jesus Christ. He is the only thing worth having. He is the only thing real. In the ultimate scheme of things, He is the only thing that we can focus on because He is the only person that can grant us eternal life. This eternal life is not just some sort of cosmic cookie that you get for being a good person or for doing the right things.

God doesn’t raise dogs. I know that that is strong language but it’s also clear language. Because when you’re training a dog, you give the dog two options, “If you follow my command, you’re going to get this nice doggie kibble or treat. If you don’t follow my command, I’m going to spank you.” That’s not how you train a Christian.

God is love. God gives us choices and God states, “You choose Me. I work all these great things in your life but ultimately, you choose Me.” We have that choice and it’s not a question of being pressured by fear just so we can be called good Christians. No. Real faith is not fueled by fear. If you’re just hanging on to your Christian walk because you want to go to heaven, then you’re motivated by the wrong things and ultimately, they might not be enough. You might not love heaven enough compared to temporary and worldly pleasures.

Instead, focus on Christ. Christ is love. His perfect love casts out all fears. There’s nothing to be afraid of. There’s nothing to be worried about in the future. There’s nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of from the past because with Christ, every single moment you are renewed. Every single moment, you are a new creature. All the past pain, embarrassment, humiliation, shame, all of that is gone.

The Bible is clear. To all those who are in Christ, there is no condemnation. We can hang onto that and that’s why we need to get past the forms of religion. This doesn’t mean you just stop going to church, but this means that you prioritize what’s true. Regardless of the specific path, meaning the church that you’re in, focus on what’s real, which is Jesus Christ and you will never be lost.

The other people in your church, they may be so focused on the form, they may be so focused on who’s in or who’s out, they may be lost in the gossip, but never mind that because you are focused on the only thing that counts and that is Jesus Christ. Ultimately, let’s just clear out everything else, Jesus saves and nothing else. No one else. So, focus on that. You’re saved, and you will remain saved.

Get lost in the politics. Get lost in the backstabbing. Get lost in that gossiping. Get lost in the self-righteous hypocrisy. There may be a very painful moment in the future. You go to Jesus and you say, “Jesus, I did all these things for you. I spread the word. I went through all these hassles. I hurt. I cried. I went through all these for you.” And He says to you, “To your face! I do not know you!”

Let’s keep it real. It’s all about our relationship to Christ. That’s the only thing that matters. In fact, it’s the only thing.